Yatra sets the tone for an Energy Revolution

The dawn breaks at Bihttiharwa Gandhi Ashram with sound of loud bhajans from some distant temple. People woke up half asleep, still struggling to get over the tiredness of the last day's journey. But out of that still sleepy lot there was one tall, energetic figure quickly packing his bedding, all set to start the day. Then Brikesh took the charge of waking up all those who were still asleep.

After a while everybody woke up to kick start the day's event. The day's adventure had a lot of spice to it and a variety of new things that people could experience. The highlight however was the neem ka datun (neem stem used for brushing teeth in rural India) and hand pump water, which reminded some of us of the good old days and gave a real flavour of the feeling of staying and travelling in the villages of Bihar.

The event began with the registration of mukhiyas and sarpanchs from different villages and other common people coming in to be a part of the programme. Omkar Das Manikpuri, aka Nattha, the distressed villager in the Oscar nominated movie Peepli Live, was the chief guest for the day. He surprised everyone by joining in with the yatri's play performance and sang the popular number Mehngai from the film. The audience had an amazing time listening to him and the momentum was successfully carried over by our yatris.

The play, Samay ki Pukar (Call of Time), depicted various issues which occur because of power shortage. Mr. MP Sinha, one of the network partners from Harnaut deeply appreciated Greenpeace's effort to start such a revolution. By the end of the yatra launch programme there was a display of some of the solar gadgets like solar mobile charger, torch with radio etc.

This marked the beginning of new hope, a revolution which will help solve the current problems being faced by the people in Bihar and put an end to their worries. It will also protect the environment from the destruction of the black smoke of from burning coal.